


Sonder

by Emmawee



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Uchiha Obito, Family, Gen, Hatake Kakashi is a Good Teacher, He's not doing well but he's trying, I'm gonna fix the Uchiha's with the power of love and communciation, Itachi is trying okay, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Reluctantly Protective Uchiha Obito
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:00:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25181377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emmawee/pseuds/Emmawee
Summary: Tobi may have given up on his family, but his family hasn't given up on him.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi & Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Obito & Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 9
Kudos: 69





	Sonder

News of Sasuke's defection from the Leaf doesn’t take long to make its way through the nations. 

Some heard the story, albeit the heavily edited version released by Konoha officials, and ate up the tale like they were being spoon-fed honey. Just another tragedy for the Leaf, and one long time coming considering his brother's murderous rampage. What do you expect from an Uchiha. 

Those who were a tad more bright could tell the official story was riddled with misdirections and bullshit, aimed at pushing the blame off the Hokage and the state for their mistreatment of an orphan child. Anyone with half a brain could see that Konoha all but abandoned that boy well before he cast aside his hitaiate. The resulting explosion could have very well been avoided. But hush, hush. Such thoughts are treasonous. Share them behind closed doors, with only your much-trusted allies. Fear the Hokages enforcers are listening, that their masks are waiting in the shadows, biding their time. Or better yet, keep such musings to yourself. 

For those who knew the truth, however- 

Sakura had cried until she had no more tears left, until her body felt wrecked and she could only silently shake until she would pass out from the exhaustion-

_(this could have been avoided)_

Shikamaru burns with rage at the bedside of his oldest friend, thoughts flying through his mind a million miles an hour, one he would normally be too lazy to chase but now, but now. The medic told him they were unsure if Choji would ever fully recover- 

Ino was hurt, she felt like a knife had been taken to her chest. Watching her best friend fall apart, watching her teammate stew in deathly rage like she had never seen before and praying, oh sage she was praying, for this all to be a dream, Choji wake up- 

Tsunade for once, was completely sober. The confusion and unruliness that followed in the wake of Sasuke's defection would leave behind bleeding and gaping wounds if she wasn’t prepared to undertake the damage control, if she didn’t do right by her soldiers. She was a healer first, and the Hokage second-

_(why has he done this?)_

Deidara had taunted him, for he couldn’t kill Itachi, not yet, but he could inflict as much damage with his words as possible, and was sorely disappointed when Itachi failed to show any visible reaction to the news. Only an inhumane head tilt, a slow blink. It was only once Dedira had stormed off in frustration, only once he was alone, _i promised to protect him,_ did he allow his carefully constructed mask to crack, and if Kisame had noticed the silent grief that followed Itachi afterward, he did not comment-

Kakashi was honestly surprised by how much this was affecting him. You’d think after losing everyone you loved, more than once, that you’d be able to roll with the punches. But, sitting by Naruto's bedside, looking at the wad of bandages covering his chest, the hole pierced clean through by the technique _Kakashi had taught him_ \- the sense of loss, of anger, wasn’t lessened by the tragedies of his past. He’d been hurt before, the ache he carried was constant, but this was a new sensation. The familiar _you failed_ was now followed by _he was my legacy, how could he have done this, what was rule number one Sasuke? Protect your teammat-_

_(i’m sorry Obito)_

As for Tobi, well, he found out first hand. Watching his little nephew trudge through the Northern snow, miserable and humming with a maelstrom of anger, regret and determination, and exhausted from the constant _runhiderun_ dance he’d been playing with Konoha ANBU for the last week. Sasuke was lucky he had such a caring Uncle to look out for him, or the Konoha dogs would’ve caught him within hours of leaving his dear friend to bleed out. He would be within Orochimura’s reach soon enough, then Tobi could get out of this fucking snowstorm and back to the- 

Well, it's not like Ame is any warmer now it is. But it was a different kind of cold, the constant rain left the whole city with a suffocating atmosphere. Damp and dreary, he sometimes felt like he couldn’t breathe properly. Sometimes, when that happened, he wished for the heat of the Fire Country sun, the pleasant chatter of the locals that was a constant white noise in the background, the man who shone as brightly as the sun, Rin’s smil- 

Sasuke stumbled in the snow. His cursing wouldn’t have been heard over the wind to any normal eavesdropper, or any normal shinobi. But Tobi was far from the average in both aspects. 

_Well isn’t that no way for a young man to be speaking._ He suppressed the urge to giggle. 

Sasuke had pulled himself to his feet, and Tobi had to admit he was impressed by the kid's perseverance. Any sane shinobi would’ve seen the incoming storm and either turned tail and ran or bunkered down to wait it out. 

Minato’s voice cut through his musings _No matter how good you think you are, and yes Kakashi I’m looking at you, you can’t win against nature._ Fucking hell, he hated when Sensei did that. Not that he didn’t appreciate the advice, but because any reminder of his late teacher was usually followed by the memory of getting the full brunt of his _Rasengan_ , which Tobi would forever remember as a painful and inconvenient experience. 

Dear Lord, what had Kakashi taught this child other than a fancy lighting trick and some pitiful evasion tactics? 

_Not much apparently._ Sasuke had once again fallen over. The snow was piled up to his waist, and the boy had yet to figure out that the concepts of tree walking could be applied to almost any situation, including walking over snow. 

To be honest with himself Tobi didn’t feel the protective instinct he’d expected to find once he had spied his wayward relative out alone in the big bad shinobi world. He felt more, well, a sense of detached amusement. Like watching a kitten trying to sneak up on its owner. You knew it was going to pounce on you, and you would let it because you knew it was pathetically harmless and wouldn’t hurt you, and you allowed the illusion of being caught by surprise to continue because you found it constant efforts to be entertaining. If not for those cursed eyes that boy carried around in his skull, and the influence his continued existence had over his older brother, this little kitten would not even be worth a passing glance. 

_Oh dear, he’s not getting up._ Well, wouldn’t that be ironic. Itachi had put so much effort in orchestrating his own death for the murderer-to-be going off and dying in a blizzard. _The fratricide is just not meant to be._

If Sasuke didn’t start moving soon even the fire that coursed through his veins wouldn’t keep the cold out. Once the heat left his body there was no way he’d gain it back in this kind of weather. His chakra would start to divert itself to keeping his vital organs functioning, and once his reserves dried up, there would be no saving him. That was a lesson he’d learned from Madara. 

For a moment, just for a moment, he considered removing the concealment justu he had in place and pulling off a valiant rescue. Sasuke wasn’t a major player in the game, not yet. He was a baby deer trying to find his feet, and in Tobi’s experience, that point in a shinobi's life was the differentiator between those who lived and those who died. His loss would be, well, regrettable, but not detrimental to their plans. If he died here his brother would continue on, like a puppet on strings, doing what Tobi ordered, and most likely without any of the passive-aggressive backchat. He would still serve his purpose. If he lived and somehow managed to complete his goal of murdering his only remaining family, well then, Tobi would have an ace up his sleeve. A perfectly malleable Uchiha to do with what he pleased, and those were in short supply. 

The instinct was fleeting, in the face of a wall of indifference and Madara’s teachings. But it was present, which in itself was concerning. 

A lot of thoughts that bounced around in Tobi’s mind were concerning. The rare and unwanted advice from his dead sensei was one of them, and the cancerous thoughts of what Rin would think about what he has become-

No, there’s no point in wondering _what if,_ she's dead. Very, very dead. 

The snow was begging to completely obscure Sasuke from view, in a few minutes any passerby wouldn’t be able to tell there’d even been a body there in the first place. His time to make his decision was running short. 

_Uchiha are born and bred warriors, if that runt isn’t strong enough to pull through a measly snowstorm, or stupid enough to be there at all, then he deserves to freeze. _Even after the old man had kicked the bucket, Tobi was still the living embodiment of Madara’s will, the instrument of his revenge, and he could not bring forth the will to disobey.__

____

Well, he supposed that settled it didn’t it. Pity. Such potential. Wonder how Kakashi would react. 

____

_He’s your blood, he’s your family. Are you just going to let him die?_

____

Words that are unwanted and unwelcome. _(god i’ve missed the sound of your voice)_ A moral compass he could not abide by, not anymore. _(i’m sorry Rin)_ He made his choice in that killing field, with her cooling corpse in his arms, under a blood-red moon. He was doing this for her, for the greater good of the shinobi world. 

____

_Hasn’t he suffered enough?_ All the better to put him out of his misery before he can suffer some more. 

____

_I wouldn’t want this._ Your dead Rin. You can’t want anything.

____

_Please._

____

____

Obito flared his chakra three times, the standard call for help. His fire attuned chakra struggling to pierce through the dense haze of snow. He waited, his fist clenched and the voice of a dead girl silent in his head with anticipation. 

____

The body in the snow gave a small jerk, and he was honestly surprised that the kid was still aware enough to have any grip on his surroundings. 

____

Sasuke had gotten his elbows up underneath him, pushing his chest up against the weight of the snow piled on his back. He turned his head in Obito’s direction. The concealment justu would make sure that even if Sasuke’s Sharingan was active, he wouldn’t be able to spot him. 

____

The whisper of Sasuke’s voice was in stark contrast to his loud cursing, and with Obito’s own Sharingan active, he could see the fragile beginnings of hope start to grip the boy's frame. 

____

“Itachi?” 

____

_Oh, that poor boy._ Quiet Rin. 

____

_He still loves his brother, doesn’t he?_ And his brother loves him, but their misery is of their own design. 

____

_You could still save them._ I’ve got to save you. 

____

_You can’t save the dead Obito, only the living._

____

Sasuke’s eyes scanned the impenetrable wall of snow and found nothing. His expression crumpled, his eyes squeezed shut, his face wound tight like he was bracing for an impact. He let out a broken gasp, short in the manner when you're trying to cry silently, trying to keep the wails from ever leaving your throat. 

____

_That’s the worst part, isn’t it?_

____

What do you mean?

____

_He’s trying to hide his pain, even when there's nobody around to see it._

____

____

The ping of three approaching chakra signatures was what jarred Tobi back to reality. Headed directly for the quickly disappearing body of the younger Uchiha. 

____

Sasuke was losing the battle of consciousness, his eyes were glazing over, and whatever brief strength he had left him as he collapsed back into the snow.

____

The chakra signals were far too unrefined to be ANBU, and coming from the opposite direction to Konoha. He concentrated more, and the slimy, sickly imprint of the Snake Sannins chakra made itself known. So these were Orochimaru’s little foot soldiers then, off to drag Sasuke to another, more constricting cage than Konoha would have ever been. 

____

_True Uchiha are forged in fire._ Madara hadn’t had to tell him that one. Tobi was forged in the rumble of Kannabi bridge and quenched in the blood of Kiri nin. Little Sasuke will either survive what is to come and be stronger because of it, or he will die. 

____

The group had spotted Sasuke, and just in time. Two of them sprinted over, clearly natives to the area if the ease that they navigated the snow was any indication. The third hung back. Tobi couldn’t discern the gender of the shinobi from the bulky parka and goggles, but their head was turning, surveying the area. 

____

_Sensor._ He was intrigued though, it had been years since he had encountered a sensor good enough to find him, and the challenge of unholding that record was something of a hobby of his.

____

The sensor took little under ten seconds to know there was someone else there in that storm, and five to pinpoint his exact location through the snow. But within the time she had alerted her companions, Tobi was already a hundred miles away.

____

He didn’t hear Rin’s voice again.

____

**Author's Note:**

> Hey this my first fic. I've been reading and lurking for years now but I read weialala's 'In Good Company' and 'Ragnarǫkr' and I've been inspired to give it a try. Go read those two stories if you haven't already, they are amazing.  
> As this isn't betaed, if you find any mistakes and such don't be afraid to point them out to me!


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